DIOCESE OF MIDDLESBROUGH Inspection of Religious Education Collective Worship and The Catholic Life of the School School: St Mary s College Address: Cranbrook Avenue, Hull HU6 7 TN 0482 8536 admin@staff.st-marys.hull.sch.uk URN: 87 Headteacher: Chair: Mr Ged Fitzpatrick Canon M Loughlin Date: 24-25 th March 205 Inspector: Mr P Martin / Mr P Welford Date & Grade of Last Inspection: July 200 Grade Overall Grade for this Inspection: Outstanding (Grade ) A Report from: The Diocese of Middlesbrough Schools Service Section 48 Inspection Team 50a The Avenue Linthorpe Middlesbrough TS5 6QT Revised: 203
INTRODUCTION This inspection was carried out under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The report of the inspection is produced for the Bishop of Middlesbrough (Code of Canon Law 804 and 806) and for the governors of the school. The Inspection reviews, evaluates and plans further improvements in the school s witness to the Catholic faith and Curriculum Religious Education. This process begins with the school s own self-evaluation. The Inspection schedule follows criteria set by the National Board of Religious Inspectors and Advisers. What Inspection Grades mean Grade Judgement Description Grade Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding Catholic school provides exceptionally well for its pupils needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a Catholic school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Requires Improvement These features, though of adequate quality, require improvement to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate Catholic school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. 2009 copyright Diocese of Middlesbrough. This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL St Mary s College is a larger than average, -9 mixed, inner city, V.A. comprehensive school and specialist Sports College. The school serves the community of Hull and the East Riding. Students come from a wide variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, some from higher social class households and wards but the majority come from very deprived wards. The College attracts students from outside of the city. An increasing number of students are from ethnic minorities, with currently 26% compared with 25.6% nationally. 23.5% have English as an additional language compared with 4.4% nationally. 3% of students are Polish. Whilst most students come from Catholic partner primary schools (58.6%), a significant number are from a wide range of other schools. 54% of pupils are Roman Catholic while 23% belong to other Christian faiths. The percentage of students eligible for free school meals is 26.%, higher than the national average. KS2 prior attainment is consistently below average but not significantly so for current Years 9-. The percentage of students with special educational needs (SEN) is 6.24% with 54 students having a SEN statement. There are 4 looked after children (LAC). Attendance is significantly above the national average at 97.4 %. St Mary s College is a Training School and has a leading role in the School Direct partnership, serving secondary schools and specifically Catholic Primary schools in Hull and the East Riding. Revised: 203 2
Pupil Catchment: Number of pupils on roll: 728 Planned Admission Number of Pupils: 240 Percentage of pupils baptised RC: 54.5% Percentage of pupils from other Christian Denominations: 23.3% Percentage of pupils from other World Faiths: % Percentage of pupils with no religious affiliation: 2.3% Percentage of pupils with special needs: 6.34% Teaching Staff: Full-time Teachers: 20 Part-time Teachers: 8 Percentage of Catholic Teachers: 3.8% Support Staff: Full-time Classroom Support Staff: 34 Part-time Classroom Support Staff: 8 Percentage of Catholic Classroom Support Staff: 50% Percentage of teachers with CCRS: 30% Secondary School R.E. Dept. Staffing: Number of Full-time R.E. Teachers: 5 Number of Part-time R.E. Teachers: 8 Percentage of Catholic R.E.Teachers: 85% Percentage of R.E. teachers with CCRS: 30% Percentage of learning time given to R.E: Key Stage 3 >0%, Key Stage 4 0%, Sixth Form 5% (Core RE) Parishes served by the School: Hull: St Charles Borromeo, St Anthony and Our Lady of Mercy, Our Lady of Lourdes and St Peter Chanel (Marist), Sacred Heart, St Bede, St Mary, Queen of Martyrs, St Francis of Assisi, St Stephen, St Vincent de Paul, West Hull Parishes (St Joseph, Corpus Christi, St Wilfred). Beverley: St John of Beverley, Cottingham: Holy Cross. Hedon: SS Mary and Joseph. Hessle: Our Lady of Lourdes. Hornsea: Sacred Heart. Market Weighton: Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Pocklington: SS Mary and Joseph. Withernsea: SS Peter and John Fisher. Revised: 203 3
. OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS MAIN FINDINGS The overall effectiveness of St Mary s Catholic College is Outstanding. There is an excellent shared understanding between all within the school community of the school s ministry to young people and its service to the Church. Students live out the school s Mission Statement. They are very proud to be part of this special family and Catholic community. Students, led by sixth form House Captains and chaplaincy representatives, regularly take responsibility for planning and leading worship. A large majority of students, covering the full range of sub-groups across all key stages, are making sustained progress in Religious Education (RE) over time. This is true for all groups of students including those for who, the pupil premium funding provide support. Standards students achieve in RE are very high across all key stages. Teachers excellent subject knowledge, coupled with high expectations and thorough planning, ensure that students are challenged and inspired, resulting in exceptional progress being made by the majority of students. Leaders and Managers at all levels are highly effective in managing and developing the Catholic life of the school including the provision and outcomes of Religious Education. The school has a very detailed and accurate view of its own strengths and areas for continued development. All previous inspection recommendations have been met in full. What the school needs to do to improve further: Continue development of further opportunities for student involvement with respect to monitoring and evaluation of a) Collective Worship and b) the Catholic Life of the school. Complete work on installing religious artefacts across all buildings to externally highlight the school as a Catholic faith school. Further develop middle leadership capacity within the RE department in order to share the outstanding provision with other Catholic secondary schools. Continue to develop a comprehensive and tailored suite of resources to support the challenging new people of God curriculum currently being piloted in Year 7 and planned to be extended into year 8 and 9. Revised: 203 4
2. PUPILS How good outcomes are for pupils, taking into account variations between groups. Students speak with enthusiasm and pride about their Catholic community and appreciate, with a maturity beyond their years, the benefits of belonging to St Mary s College. They play their part in contributing and supporting the school s distinctive mission. There is an increasing involvement of students taking responsibility and positions of leadership with respect to the Catholic life of the school, including Collective Worship. Further development of student leadership roles will enable them to take a full and active part in monitoring and evaluation in this area. The energetic youth chaplaincy team is made up of students from all year groups and reflects the diverse nature of the school. Sixth form students are excellent role models and demonstrate outstanding leadership qualities. They are well supported by the chaplaincy coordinator. There is a common respect between all groups, including students and adults, within the school. Students can express their beliefs and views with confidence. They are very alert to the needs of others and seek to support and bring justice for those both within and beyond the school. The St Vincent de Paul youth group, provide a talking newspaper for blind people. Parents are fully aware of everything that happens at this school and witness the holistic approach to education and life with immense gratitude. Students demonstrate a mature interest in, and respect for, Collective Worship and actively participate in the wide range of provision. They have a very good understanding and knowledge of prayer and liturgy. They regularly prepare and lead worship in class, half year group assemblies and larger gatherings. They show respect and reverence when praying with others. Prayer groups, organised and led by students, meet in the well-resourced Chapel once a week and are open to all students and staff. Sixth Form House Captains, along with Chaplaincy representatives, are excellent role models for the rest of the school. Students speak positively about the voluntary acts of worship and express their enjoyment of the more formal occasions of year group / whole school liturgies. Standards students achieve in RE are very high across all key stages. A large majority of students in all key stages make sustained progress in RE over time. This is true for all groups of students including those for whom the pupil premium funding provides support. In lessons, almost all students concentrate well and there is very little off-task behaviour. They are tenacious and enthusiastic in tackling challenging work in lessons that usually move at a rapid pace. Pupil voice surveys across all year groups are very positive, for example, over 90% stating that they enjoy RE lessons. The extent to which pupils contribute to and benefit from the Catholic life of the school How well pupils achieve and enjoy their learning in Religious Education How well do pupils respond to and participate in the school s Collective Worship Revised: 203 5
3. PROVISION How effective the provision is for Catholic education Teaching promotes successful learning in RE. Teachers excellent subject knowledge, coupled with high expectations, ensures that students are challenged and inspired, resulting in exceptional progress being made. Detailed and rigorous assessment informs effective planning which enables students to develop skills and acquire knowledge in a systematic and carefully constructive manner across each year and key stage. High quality resources including technology are used effectively to optimise learning. Marking and both written and oral feedback are of a consistently very high quality and judgements relating to student attainment are based on rigorous and detailed standardisation. Learning resources in RE are deployed in such a way that students are highly motivated to succeed and create their best work. The curriculum and other activities are relevant to student needs and tailored to the needs of different groups of students, for example, through clearly differentiated resources and sixth form Core RE extended project qualification (EPQ) work. Opportunities for spiritual, moral and vocational development are inherent in the curriculum planning. The Sixth Form Core RE provision has recently been updated. Provision now ensures that students spiritual and academic needs are well catered for, including the opportunity for more able students to study Core RE topics in more depth using the EPQ. The curriculum at all key stages meet the requirements of the Bishops conference. The school s plans to introduce new curriculum developments are appropriate, for example, the piloting of the people of God new RE curriculum at KS3 in Year 7 which is set to extend to year 8 and 9. Leaders will need to continue developing a comprehensive and tailored suite of resources to support this challenging curriculum. Collective Worship is central to the life of the school. Pupils liturgical, spiritual and moral formation is well mapped out within Religious Education and PSHE (personal, spiritual, health education) along with all other areas of the curriculum. Staff are skilled in planning, leading and evaluating worship. They are well supported in this by the chaplaincy coordinator, senior leaders and year leaders. Training needs are clearly identified to ensure that students have outstanding provision. Students are effectively led in developing skills with respect to planning and leading collective worship. Further development could be extended by assisting students in effectively evaluating worship on a more regular basis. This is a Catholic school first and foremost in every aspect of its work. This is clearly and unequivocally the school s priority and the school s mission is constantly promoted each day across all areas of the school. The Catholic life of the school, including the provision for collective worship, permeates everything that happens within the college on a day to day basis. High standards and expectations are in evidence throughout the school and across all aspects of the school s mission statement. A college chaplaincy twitter feed keeps staff, students and parents up to date with the latest chaplaincy news and events. Pastoral care is a high priority in the college and all staff work very effectively in caring for and supporting all students. Discussions with all stakeholders give evidence of the positive relationships that exist throughout Revised: 203 6
the school, where respect and forgiveness are clearly demonstrated. The school has set up a valuable link between Hull s Polish Parish and a Saturday Polish support group. The priest involved works closely with the school and is actively involved across a range of provision bringing mutual benefits to parish, school and the Polish community. The quality of teaching and how purposeful learning is in Religious Education The extent to which the Religious Education curriculum promotes pupils learning The quality of Collective Worship provided by the school The quality of provision for the Catholic life of the school Revised: 203 7
4. LEADERS, MANAGERS AND GOVERNORS How effective leaders, managers and governors are in developing the Catholic life of the school Leaders, managers and governors demonstrate an outstanding and deep commitment to the church s mission in education. This permeates constantly throughout the school community. Leaders and managers are excellent role models and consistently display enthusiasm and high expectations at all times. This allpervading and relentless commitment ensures, through the various structures, that self-evaluation is rigorous in ensuring that all aspects of the school s work are continually reflected upon. This subsequently results in the formation of accurate plans for continuous improvement throughout the school year and beyond. A governor, linked to the RE department and Chaplaincy, ensures the promotion of the Catholic life of the school remains the core priority and enables governors to effectively monitor the work of the College. Leaders need to ensure that work on religious artefacts and sculpture, to visibly and externally highlight the school as a Catholic faith community, are finalised following the completion of all building work. A comprehensive staff induction and in-service training plan is well established and is led by a range of key personnel in addition to the local clergy. A coherent and robust tracking system ensures that all stakeholders are fully aware of the progress being made by all students, classes, sub-groups and year groups. Leaders and managers at all levels communicate frequently and very effectively, resulting in issues of student progress being identified quickly with appropriate intervention. Comprehensive and effective self-evaluation procedures are now well established with appropriate targets identified alongside clear lines of accountability. Relevant members of the Senior Leadership Team, along with the Head of RE, regularly monitor the quality of teaching in RE. A senior member of staff along with a link governor ensures that there is sufficient challenge and support at key times during the school year. The pastoral system is clearly a priority and strength of the school. All students, especially those with additional, and special, needs are cared for with outstanding skill, commitment and energy. Leaders, governors and managers are additionally committed to serving other education providers including support for another secondary school and specifically Catholic Primary schools in Hull and the East Riding. Further development of leadership capacity within the RE department will assist in sharing their outstanding practice with others. How well leaders, managers and governors promote, monitor and evaluate the provision for the Catholic life of the school, including collective worship, and plan improvement to outcomes for pupils How well leaders, managers and governors monitor and evaluate the provision for Religious Education and plan for improvement to outcomes for pupils Revised: 203 8